Dungeon Defense (WN)

r>I remembered something.

‘If I play this out well, then I might be able to use this.’

I hastily worked the abacus in my head.
I had a good idea.
I’m saying it again, but I know what adventurers are weak to.
I know very well what they would fear the most in this current situation.

There’s a 50/50 chance with this.
It may or may not work.
Nevertheless, I wasn’t in the position to be playing it safe.
I’ll be executed in a town square if I let things go like this anyway.
If I’m going to die either way, then there’s no harm in trying, right?

I promptly went into my performance.

“Regardless, I’m relieved to have met you, gentlemen.
You didn’t try to kill me the moment you saw me even though I am a Demon Lord.”

A bitter smile appeared on my lips.

“You’ve been considerate towards me, despite my bad injuries, and you’re even supporting me like this……huk.
This is my first time in the past 200 years that I’ve ever met such virtuous adventurers.
The fact that I’ve been caught by such gentle souls like you all is a light in my misfortune.”

This was obviously a lie.

These guys started shooting arrows at me the moment they laid eyes on me.
They probably didn’t spare me because I was pitiful, but simply because they wanted to loot this dungeon.
Who cares, though? It didn’t matter what the truth was.

I had to garner their affection no matter what.

‘How will they respond?’

I waited impatiently.
I didn’t fabricate actions that never happened.
I merely added an interpretation to their actions.
In general, people tend to interpret their own actions in a more positive light.

The adventurers finally reacted.

“No, we didn’t really do that much…….”

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“You also cooperated with us well, didn’t you?”

「Novice Adventurer Riff’s affection has risen by 6.」 「Novice Adventurer Daneff’s affection has risen by 4.」 「Novice Adventurer Luke’s affection has risen by 6.」

Outside of these three, the affection of all of the other adventurers went up as well.

‘Perfect!’

I made a fist in my mind.
Compared to the small amount of affection that went up previously, it went up by a reasonable amount this time.
I had a rough grasp of things now.

“I’m sorry for delaying everyone due to my slow pace.
Now then, gentlemen, let us make haste towards the treasury.”

I did my best to speak energetically.
I didn’t actually speak energetically, I spoke just energetic enough to make it clear to others that I was forcing myself to speak like this in order to liven up the mood.

The adventurers cleared their throats.

“Ehem.
Hm.
We don’t really have to rush, do we?”

“Mhm, that’s right.
It’s not like the treasury is going to grow legs and run away.”

“Your feet must hurt a lot as well, so let’s go slowly.
This shouldn’t be an issue since there are no monsters anyway.”

They weren’t constantly terrifying beings.
In other words, they were beasts that could be reasoned with.

Additionally, I knew what the beasts known as adventurers were weak to the most.

“Uh, but…….”

I narrowed my eyes slightly.
I continued in a troubled tone.

“If we take too long, then another adventurer party might invade this dungeon as well.
They’ll be able to reach the Demon Lord’s room with ease since all of the monsters are gone.
Would this not trouble you gentlemen……?”

“What!?”

The adventurers were startled.

Dungeon monsters are unable to hurt Demon Lords.
As long as this party keeps holding me hostage, they are safe from any monster threat.
However, when it involves other humans and not monsters, then that’s another story.

On some occasions, parties cooperate when conquering dungeons, while, on other occasions, they compete against one another.
The Demon Lord’s head which the dungeon’s gold and bounty reward rely on……this was nothing more than appetizing game for adventurers.

These people were individuals who had left their homes and traveled to foreign countries solely for the sake of making money.
It didn’t matter whether it was monsters or humans that had money.
If anything, they could change into a pack of thieves at the snap of a finger.
That’s what adventurers are.

The job known as adventurer has a bad reputation in this world.

‘Aren’t they just a reserve group of thieves that are going around trying to make money?’

This is the most common opinion people have in regard to adventurers.
If you’re a human, then it’s only natural to become a farmer in the place you were born and raised.
As expected of a medieval era, wanderers were treated badly.
Nevertheless, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
It isn’t rare for parties to plunder each other.

The adventurers furrowed their brows and started discussing with each other.

“Damn it.
I didn’t consider that at all.”

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“There’s no certainty that another party will come.
There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Idiot! He said that there have already been 3 parties that came here recently.
There’s a good chance that there are other bastards who’ve heard the rumors and are coming to attack.”

Their faces gradually became grim.

“Aiming for when the dungeon is weak……something like that, huh? That sound plausible.”

“If, as the Demon Lord had said, there isn’t a single monster left, then we have to risk our lives against a healthy party of adventurers.”

“Shit! Like hell I’d just hand over our treasure to them!”

The older adventurers that had more experience tried to calm their companions down.
Losing your cool in a dungeon wasn’t a wise idea.
However, the farmers who had dived into this dungeon in order to turn their lives around in an instant couldn’t compose themselves.

“Everyone.
There’s a chance that another party could be approaching right this minute.”

I spoke in an overly concerned tone.

“How about we head towards the treasury for now? You can walk and talk.”

“He’s right.”

“Let’s take the gold first! Yeah!”

The others agreed.

「The Novice Adventurer Party, ‘People of Jalsen’, has lowered their wariness towards you by a fair degree.」

“Let’s get a move on.
We can’t waste any time even by the length of your penises!”

“The men of Jalsen aren’t gullible enough to let our prize be taken from right under our noses!”

All of the adventurers let out their own respective shout as they resumed their march.

***

Author’s Afterword

ForSmile// Thank you for leaving the first comment.
Personally, I also want to try getting hit by a resurrection truck…

김조작// Even if his lower body is overpowered, his right foot is already broken, so… Of course, if it’s broken, then it’s possible to play(?) accordingly!

fewfqew// Thank you for the first coupon.
I’ll repay you with an entertaining story.

***

TL note: Thanks for reading.
Sorry about taking a fair bit to release this one.
I’ve been a bit busy meeting relatives and friends in the morning for the past few days, which is usually the time I translate, so I didn’t have that much time to get work done.

In any case, I’m not really sure if I should keep translating the author’s afterword when he’s responding to comments you guys can’t even see.
It’ll also be fairly difficult for me to find the actual comments as this WN was uploaded on a different site before being moved to KakaoPage.
Feel free to tell me in the comments whether I should keep translating these or not.